Tourists killed as bus rolls off road

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Two passengers on a bus carrying Taiwanese tourists
were killed and 20 others injured when it rolled off a
twisting, narrow road near Jamberoo in NSW today.

The 24-seater bus towing a luggage trailer was travelling east
on Jamberoo Mountain Road, about 2pm today.

It left the road and rolled 10 metres down an embankment, coming
to a stop on its roof, 500 metres from the Jamberoo Mountain Lodge,
about 35 kilometres from Wollongong.

Police say 24 people were on the bus, which was part of an
organised tour travelling from Canberra to the Nan Tien Temple near
Wollongong. Twenty-two of those on the bus were Taiwanese
nationals, accompanied by a driver and tour guide.

A man and woman died at the crash site, say police, and
seven people were airlifted to Royal North Shore, Liverpool and St
George Hospitals in Sydney in a critical condition.

Another 13 tourists, the bus driver and tour guide have been
taken to Shellharbour and Wollongong Hospitals suffering minor
injuries.

Taiwanese Consulate spokesman Eugene Shu said he was still
trying to confirm details about the whereabouts of those on
board.

A Taiwanese passenger who escaped with minor injuries told
reporters the bus had "rolled down, rolled down and rolled down"
the embankment.

"I was very lucky," he said. "You have very good efficiency. The
ambulances came by for us straight away."

Terry Chatterton, manager of the Jamberoo Valley Lodge, said his
staff were among the first people at the scene.

"The bus surprisingly doesn't look too bad. It's on its roof.
It's come down a steep incline at the bottom of Jamberoo Pass and
it's failed to negotiate a sweeping left hand bend,'' Mr Chatterton
said.

"One of the chaps who came racing down [to the lodge after the
crash] said the wheels of the bus were still spinning,'' he
said.

It was unusual to see tourist buses on the narrow Jamberoo
Mountain Road, he said.

However, he thought a bus driver should have been able to
negotiate the corner where it crashed.

"I can only presume something mechanical [went wrong],'' he
said.

There is no mobile phone coverage in the crash area.

The operator of one of Wollongong's major bus lines says the
Jamberoo Mountain Road is totally unsuitable for heavy vehicles
like tourist buses.